Jul 2, 2010

The term 'dollar' has been around for thousands of years. Common history says it comes from the the Czech name Joachimsthaler. Thaler is a shortened form of the term. It was pronounced like 'taller'. Talers were around as recently as the 1960s in Hungary, Bohemia, and other German States.

Dalers were used in the Scandinavian countries from the 1500s until the 1920s.

The English pronunciation 'dollar' was also used for Spanish Pesos and Portuguese pieces of eight and a few other European currencies.

The US minted its first dollar in 1792. Currently, an average paper US dollar lasts 21 months before it wears out.

Canada officially changed to the (Canadian) dollar in 1853, but they were minted in Britain until 1908. Australia and New Zealand changed to the (Australian and New Zealand) dollars, from the Pound, in the 1960s. Many other countries use a dollar as the official currency, but not all dollars are US dollars and not all are tied to the US dollar for their value.

In January 2010, Zimbabwe issued a $100 trillion note, making the note the highest denomination in the world.

Britain officially changed to the decimal system and divided the pound into 100 pennies in 1971. Now you know why dollars make sense. . . or cents.Speaking of cents, the Lincoln penny has been around for 101 years.